Tales From the Fainting Couch

[Howl]

On 7/2/2018 at 11:24 AM, FilleMondaine said:

I guess I just wanted to express sympathy and hugs with everyone who has disclosed their physical and emotional pain on this board. And also to highlight the correlation of trauma and inflammation.

Just wanted to note that Total Recovery by Gary Kaplan addresses this issue and the connection between pain and depression. 

[Terrie]

I admit to doing "Oh, I shouldn't..." But it's usually followed by "If I eat any more, I might explode."

 

ETA: And then I usually say "Screw it. you only live once. Exploding's not a bad way to go."

[katilac]

On 6/26/2018 at 4:59 PM, bea said:

 
One of my kids is gifted and has generalized anxiety disorder, which is not an unusual combo. In some of my discussion groups, parents are talking about the innumerable allergies to everything their gifted children have. Their children’s symptoms exactly match up to my kid’s GAD - but their child can’t have anxiety, it must be food dyes.

1

One of my gifted kids had anxiety AND an allergy to food dyes, I guess she was extra-special 

On 6/28/2018 at 9:46 AM, melon said:

 

I don't know if this is true  for everyone,I have thought about having an adjustment.I have neck and shoulder pain,but I read ,somewhere,that for the first..3 months after adjustments..the pain can be worse.I don't know,I don't have insurance or the money ,it was just a thought.

 

11

Melon, you might give yoga a try if you haven't done so. You can find all kinds of information, poses, and videos online for free. Just start at a super gentle pace and advance very slowly (because you can do more harm than good if you push). 

Yoga has been amazing for me, and I've never done classes or advanced to any level of difficulty. I mean, I started with my Wii Fit, lol. I remain very much at a beginner's level, yet my back gives me less trouble now, in my 50s, than it did when I was in my 20s. 

[Briefly]

On 7/1/2018 at 8:22 AM, FiddleDD said:

My cousin has two children with milk and egg allergies and her in laws never have anything the kids can eat, even at the holidays! Nothing like a screaming toddler that doesn’t understand why he can’t eat the birthday cake and a bunch of adults that never even THOUGHT about having an alternative. 

I find it so baffling because my family never makes things they can’t eat if the kids will be here. It just doesn’t seem that hard, and they are little kids who don’t understand yet. When they are older we can just make sure there are a few alternatives for them but until then we make the delicious milk/egg free cake recipe from WW2 and everyone is happy. 

We don't get along with Mr Briefly's dad and step mom too well, but I have to say that when Briefly daughter was little they did at least make the effort to have things she could eat.  They at least asked about her allergies and did not want her to be left out.  It really does matter.

On 7/1/2018 at 8:53 PM, The Mother Dust said:

Omg.  A coworker and friend of mine is getting breast cancer surgery soon.  Thankfully the cancer was caught super early and she should be ok.  HOWEVER.  In consultation with the surgeon who will be doing the reconstruction, my friend let him know that she wants a smaller chest than what she currently has.  Can you guys believe he gave her pushback on that???  She's had a few pre-surgery meetings with him, and firmly reiterated what she wanted, and still got pushback every time.  Not an outright "no" exactly, but a bunch of hedging like....."oh, you'll wake up and regret it" and a bunch of semi-incredulous  "are you sure's??"  Her DH was with her in these consultations, and she told me that at one point the surgeon looked pointedly at her husband for his opinion. 

 I am happy to say her DH is on board with her body her choice.  But still.  What if he was like one of these fundie husbands???   Needless to say, I was beside myself.  I'd fought and won my right to get a tubal ligation at a young age some years ago, another battle won against paternalistic medicine, so I was primed and ready to go when she was telling me this.   She and her DH are both more mild mannered than me and I told her I would go with her next time, and I think I scared her a bit, lol.   Anyway, she only told me the story about this pushback just prior to her surgery date, so there are no more pre-meetings to go.  That doc dosen't know how lucky he is.  But, she told me she still dosen't know for sure if she will wake up with the smaller chest she wants or not.  Fuck, I'm getting enraged all over again.  I need a drink.

Strongly suggest to her that she (and her husband since it might be ignored without him) put it in writing and sign it, and are very clear about her wishes and that they expect them to be honored.  Her doctor sounds like a real jerk and I would be afraid her would be the type to do what he wants and not his patient.  Just my opinion! I've had to go RedHeadTexasWoman (as we call it) on a couple of doctors before.

[Briefly]

On 7/2/2018 at 9:08 AM, Rachel333 said:

I agree. I hear stories about people doing things like giving customers ordering coffee full fat milk instead of the skim/soy/whatever that they ordered and in response to those types of stories people often say things like "You shouldn't trick someone into eating something they don't want because they might be deathly allergic." It's absolutely true, but even if it's no more than a preference you still should never give someone something they don't want to eat/drink!

I'm vegetarian/vegan for ethical/emotional reasons. It disturbed me greatly as a child to realize I was eating animals, so I became vegetarian without even really knowing what that meant. (My explanation was that "I don't want to eat things with eyes," which led to years of potato jokes from my family.) I haven't eaten meat since I was 7 and if I ate meat now I would find it profoundly upsetting. There aren't many things I can compare it to and I don't think anyone can really understand how much it would bother me unless they feel the same way. It bothers me that people often act like vegetarianism by choice is less legitimate than avoiding certain meats for religious reasons and I'm horrified by the stories I hear of people who think it's funny to trick vegetarians into eating meat. Again, the arguments against doing that are often "You could make them sick!" and not that it's fucked up to do that to someone, period.

I know what you mean, I've had more than a couple of discussions with food service workers about what I have heard/seen concerning other customers.  I had to lose my temper once with a girl working at a flea market concession stand when my diabetic mother was having sudden blood sugar issues.  She ordered whatever it was (I can't remember) and commented that her sugar was low.  The worker laughed in her face and then took the next customer's order, completely ignoring my mom.  The next customer understood and she was obviously appalled, she had no issue at all with me staying in front of her and I let the worker have both barrels, as we say in Texas.  The other workers also heard me, and they were looking at this girl like she was an idiot.  The upshot is Mom got what she needed and was ok, but she could have easily have crashed and had real problems.  All because of a very rude concession worker.

If you don't want to eat meat, then nobody should trick you or belittle you.  They could make you very ill.  It's none of their business why you, or anyone else, does or does not eat a particular item.

[feministxtian]

I fortunately don't have any real food allergies. I have a few intolerances, but they're easily managed. My youngest had for-real food allergies as a little boy and my evil x-husband had shit-fits over me spending the money to buy him what he wasn't allergic to. Fucker. 

I'm finding that caffeine is probably not great for my GAD (yes, diagnosed by a professional). So, I'm gradually cutting down on it. Hub and I both need to cut down on fat though. That whole no gall bladder thing and for him, no pancreas, makes digesting fatty foods rather uncomfortable. We don't have much of a social life so we don't really have to worry about other people and what they think of what we eat. 

[ladyamylynn]

Ugh I have so much to say about this! I'm the chef at a winery- and one of my job duties is to cook lunch for the entire staff of about 50 every week. Oh my god you guys, the level fad diets and food issues and self-hatred among the women I work with is unfuckingreal. And it's ALL directed right at me. "Oh you're so bad, why do you cook things that taste so good!" "Oh god I'm going to need to run 6 miles instead of 4 after work tonight because of this cookie" "You're so lucky you don't care about healthy eating" "How is your husband not fat?". Every fucking day. Even when I'm not cooking for them, I'm cooking for paying customers, the level of internalized and externalized body hatred is intense and they can't stop themselves from commenting and making a scene. I had one woman complain to my boss because it "smelled too good in her office" when I was preparing food for a special event last week. For my birthday? They bought me an apron that says "EVIL" on it. Great, tell the only overweight woman that works in the building she's evil. It's maddening. Sorry end rant. 

And yes, I prepare a special meal for each one of these awful shrews and their fad diets, because I'm a goddamned professional. 

[IntrinsicallyDisordered]

@melon I can't fnd the post, but regarding it hurting more after you stop chiropractic, that was true for me.  When I didn't have health insurance I did have a chiro who had seen me since I was a child (parents were big on no actual doctors though they didn't take it as far as a lot of the people we talk about here).  She would see me for $10 an adjustment so I went twice a month.  And I really thought it helped a lot of my back and neck pain and when I moved away I was in AGONY for about 6 weeks.  Just crying it was so bad.  And then suddenly I felt fine.  It was like the tv I had that stopped working the day after the warrenty expired and then randomly came back to life some months later.

I haven't seen a chiropractor in 11 years now, and will admit that sometimes I desperately want one just to give my back and neck some good cracks.  But I know now the cause of my pain is muscular in nature (that and the strain of too big boobs) and yoga and not being a whirling mass of anxiety is more helpful in my particular case.

[feministxtian]

@ladyamylynn You're a chef? I bow to your greatness! I love food, I love smelling it, looking at it, tasting it, eating it, and even cooking it. 

Now, if I could smell your cooking in my office, I'd probably sneak out and ask for a taste because I'd be drooling. 

My husband is slender and I'm definitely not. He has that metabolism...dammit! His father was the same way. Me? I got the European peasant metabolism..."better hold on to this, there might be a famine next year". I don't give a shit. Yeah, I need to lose weight but, fuck it...once things get situated, I'll get serious about losing the weight. 

[ViolaSebastian]

There is nothing, repeat nothing, more boring to me than hearing about someone's diet. My mother, who I love dearly, has been on diets for approximately 50 years, at this point. Every. damn. time. I see her or talk to her on the phone, she talks about what food she ate that day and how much weight she's lost and ad nauseum on and on about what food she misses, how she's so jealous of what I'm eating, etc. I'm supportive of her trying to lose weight and get healthy, but holy crap does diet talk bore the life out of me. 

Also, this: https://captainawkward.com/2011/12/14/question-152-talking-about-diets-the-watching-paint-dry-of-our-times/

[louisa05]

29 minutes ago, ViolaSebastian said:

There is nothing, repeat nothing, more boring to me than hearing about someone's diet. My mother, who I love dearly, has been on diets for approximately 50 years, at this point. Every. damn. time. I see her or talk to her on the phone, she talks about what food she ate that day and how much weight she's lost and ad nauseum on and on about what food she misses, how she's so jealous of what I'm eating, etc. I'm supportive of her trying to lose weight and get healthy, but holy crap does diet talk bore the life out of me. 

Also, this: https://captainawkward.com/2011/12/14/question-152-talking-about-diets-the-watching-paint-dry-of-our-times/

The first school I worked at was a hotbed of fad diets. When they weren't preaching right wing politics or telling the single teachers what was wrong with them, the busybodies in the teacher's lounge at lunch were talking about their fad diet of the month. They did the "Carbohydrate Addicts" one where you could eat all the carbs you wanted for a certain hour every day because per the pseudoscience that's when the body can digest carbs. I pissed them all off once when I asked if that was adjusted for time zones. They did the Cabbage Soup Diet. They all gave up all fat and ate those Snackwells cookies by the box for a few weeks. And they never stopped talking about it. 

[FilleMondaine]

3 hours ago, feministxtian said:

I fortunately don't have any real food allergies. I have a few intolerances, but they're easily managed. My youngest had for-real food allergies as a little boy and my evil x-husband had shit-fits over me spending the money to buy him what he wasn't allergic to. Fucker. 

I'm finding that caffeine is probably not great for my GAD (yes, diagnosed by a professional). So, I'm gradually cutting down on it. Hub and I both need to cut down on fat though. That whole no gall bladder thing and for him, no pancreas, makes digesting fatty foods rather uncomfortable. We don't have much of a social life so we don't really have to worry about other people and what they think of what we eat. 

For this reason, my family (with our food issues) tries to host the parties. It is just easier for us to cook familiar things than to expect others to do a whole lot of work (unless they like adventures, that is!) and to absorb the necessary cost (we're old pros at eating gluten-free on a budget).  Also, I have read too that there is a positive correlation between caffeine and anxiety.

3 hours ago, ladyamylynn said:

Ugh I have so much to say about this! I'm the chef at a winery- and one of my job duties is to cook lunch for the entire staff of about 50 every week. Oh my god you guys, the level fad diets and food issues and self-hatred among the women I work with is unfuckingreal. And it's ALL directed right at me. "Oh you're so bad, why do you cook things that taste so good!" "Oh god I'm going to need to run 6 miles instead of 4 after work tonight because of this cookie" "You're so lucky you don't care about healthy eating" "How is your husband not fat?". Every fucking day. Even when I'm not cooking for them, I'm cooking for paying customers, the level of internalized and externalized body hatred is intense and they can't stop themselves from commenting and making a scene. I had one woman complain to my boss because it "smelled too good in her office" when I was preparing food for a special event last week. For my birthday? They bought me an apron that says "EVIL" on it. Great, tell the only overweight woman that works in the building she's evil. It's maddening. Sorry end rant. 

And yes, I prepare a special meal for each one of these awful shrews and their fad diets, because I'm a goddamned professional. 

This celiac appreciates you! You are far far far away from Evil! You are a Goddamn Professional Goddess of Good!

I was thinking a lot about this threat over the past few days. Food is so essential to our cultures, our communication of love, and our health. While I can understand why someone might be tired of explaining their diet, I rather believe that talking about food is like talking about the weather or your profession, or your children: it's something you do while you are getting to know a person or at the start of a party with close friends.

Learning how to communicate my food issues to others certainly had to be honed. I was talking to my vegan friend just today about what it's like being invited to 4th of July BBQs. Hope it's ok if I share what we each generally do in our own lives. We always call ahead and there are a number of options:

• They make you something special (can be dangerous--and you bring a special treat)
• You bring your own food (plus enough to share, because everyone always wants to try GF/vegan)
• You eat beforehand, then come for just a little bit
• You decline the party, and make plans at a future date to hang out safely (your home, at a friendly restaurant, etc)

Happy 4th, everyone!!!

PS: Back to the original post and crossed with for-real-problems: Tick bites can cause red meat allergies!

[chaotic life]

Ok, I have a TREMENDOUS amount to say on this subject....it is actually smack dab in the overlap of my personal experiences and my professional foci.

HOWEVER.....I need y’all to stop, and rewind a minute here!! PESTO CAN HAVE PINE NUTS IN IT??????

PESTO CAN HAVE PINE NUTS??? ARE YOU SERIOUS?????

Well....a certain professional banquet where I carefully and discretely allergy tested all of my food, ate it and had SOMETHING tree nut that bypassed my respiratory reaction and triggered the most horrifying and terrifying GI allergic reaction I have ever had in my life just made very good sense. I have a much weaker respiratory reaction to pine nuts than all other tree nuts. But as I DO react, and my reaction to every other tree nut since the allergy manifested is anaphylactic I generally avoid pine nuts on principle. But there was pesto in that meal.....sigh


On this topic, I see someone has already postulated C-PTSD and Body Keeps the Score is an excellent book. But for fundie women, it’s more than PTSD. The quiverful continuous pregnancy puts tremendous strain and stress on their bodies. The homeschooling and shouldering the lion’s share of parenting causes continuous stress and strain as well as utter emotional exhaustion. Their world view generally does not allow them to see allopathic medical support, much less mental health services, until symptoms are tremendously advanced and all home and google attempts have failed. Because they are expected to just touch it out, or even if not then when funds are tight just the mere personal guilt of seeing healthcare providers for anything but pregnancy related concerns will chase them away.

I find they typically have completely disassociated from their symptoms, attributed them to normal mothering, and presented the wildest, most desperate of explanations and tried all of the shaman treatments and cures they can find online. Their first efforts to seek help are often so vague and allopathic healthcare is so geared towards rapid visits instead of sitting and listening carefully that what conditions which do not present because of their own community flavor of self diagnosis typically presents based upon the bias of whatever rapid-fire provider is baffled by their incongruent, vague and unconnected complaints very much mimics Victorian female hysteria’s and other diagnosis in the pattern they present in these populations.

In reality, the ones I see and treat really don’t have wild zebra diagnoses. They just need to have more closed loop guided inquiry that targets the most common stress related differentials very directly. They are generally ALL “tired” and can not distinguish from the ordinary tired to fatigue that should alert them to seek help.

And frankly, part of why I am so talented at reaching them and helping them is because I WAS them. It took six years to pinpoint my Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis and friends who pushed me to advocate for myself and not give up from the constant dismissal by healthcare providers in those years. And I am eternally grateful that my arthritis was precipitated by a distinct and telltale rash or I would have been perpetually shelved as fibromyalgia like so many women who complain of pain and fatigue these days (not because I don’t believe in fibromyalgia but because I KNOW far too many providers are far too quick to classify someone with that diagnosis and forget dismiss any further symptoms forever after and that pattern pisses me off for the sloppy healthcare that it is).

[chaotic life]

Forgot my last point. Their diagnoses follow patterns by the flavors of their own communities or whatever online resources and quacks they have connected to try to find answers.

One community may all have adrenal fatigue, another relies heavily on liver cleanses, yet another all have lyme’s and the gluten sensitivity runs through all of them.

There IS gluten sensitivity. But it needs to be differentiated from Celiac’s which is a gluten allergy. But they generally do not truly understand what that means and gluten sensitivity is generally a dose dependent response but also a tolerance issue. Explaining that no really, your celiac’s testing really did come back normal is always a fun one.

They maladies are generally harmless. It’s mostly a synthesis of distrust of healthcare providers and the modern shamans they do turn to looking for answers.

Ironically, the droves of fatigued, achey, headachey SAHDs would likely feel a million times better if they got outside, got some consistent exercise and more importantly some vitamin D.

But mostly you can track where they turned trying to find answers by the patterns of their self diagnoses but have to to start from scratch to figure out what is going on.

[Rachel333]

 

21 minutes ago, chaotic life said:

HOWEVER.....I need y’all to stop, and rewind a minute here!! PESTO CAN HAVE PINE NUTS IN IT??????

PESTO CAN HAVE PINE NUTS??? ARE YOU SERIOUS?????

Yep, that's a basic ingredient in pesto! It almost always has pine nuts.

[chaotic life]

 
Yep, that's a basic ingredient in pesto! It almost always has pine nuts.

Apparently being cheap and making my own was good for my health. This is exactly why I hate eating things not made in my kitchen or with a full ingredient label attached!

[AliceInFundyland]

@ladyamylynn That is not a funny birthday present. That’s crappy.  

[Rachel333]

I think there might be something to the idea that it can be hard for women to rest when a couple splits things up by traditional gender roles. It's often accepted that if men work all day then once they come home they should be able to rest and do nothing, while a busy stay at home mom never gets a break from her duties. Look at holidays like Thanksgiving where it's normal for all the men to do nothing but watch football for hours while the women do all the cooking, then after the meal the men go back to watching football while the women do all the cleaning.

I think in that framework a physical illness can give women a "legitimate" excuse to just rest, so it's no wonder some women embrace it.

[Lisafer]

Hi, I was gone a few days while my vague physical ailments kicked me in the ass. (Tongue-in-cheek, but I seriously haven't been feeling well and I'm not sure why). 

More on topic, I had a coworker (who is sort of a fake-Jew fundie type) say that she wanted to try colon hydrotherapy. I about went through the roof. We're not talking enema, we're talking water pumped into your entire colon with the associated risks of infection, colon perforation, and death: performed by a person with no actual medical training in an office in a rundown strip mall. I tend to be mild-mannered about other people's medical decisions in real life, but no way was I about to let her do that without telling her about the real chance that her colon might rupture and lead to immediate emergency surgery.

I think she decided against it. Praise be to Rufus. 

[IntrinsicallyDisordered]

4 hours ago, chaotic life said:

And frankly, part of why I am so talented at reaching them and helping them is because I WAS them. It took six years to pinpoint my Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis and friends who pushed me to advocate for myself and not give up from the constant dismissal by healthcare providers in those years. And I am eternally grateful that my arthritis was precipitated by a distinct and telltale rash or I would have been perpetually shelved as fibromyalgia like so many women who complain of pain and fatigue these days (not because I don’t believe in fibromyalgia but because I KNOW far too many providers are far too quick to classify someone with that diagnosis and forget dismiss any further symptoms forever after and that pattern pisses me off for the sloppy healthcare that it is).

I remember the doctor I saw at the Tropical Institute in Antwerp telling me that in the future, the medical community would be ashamed of itself for its labels of chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia and how many people they shove in those boxes.  Whether it is actually depression, or Lyme, or both, or something else entirely, too many women are too quickly given those labels.

I was reading a Buzzfeed story yesterday about a woman that had a 50lbs ovarian cyst removed after being told to just lose weight, and the comments were filled, as always on stories like these, with dozens of women saying they hadn't been listened to either.  Cancer, endometriosis, ectopic pregnancy, cysts, fibroids, brushed off for months, sometimes years, sometimes DECADES as just hysteria.  That has to change.  And I have to believe it will.  Someday.  After all, they aren't lobotomizing us or locking us up in an asylum for disagreeing with or being disagreeable to our husbands and fathers anymore, are they? 

[Black Aliss]

4 hours ago, Rachel333 said:

Quote

PESTO CAN HAVE PINE NUTS IN IT??????

Yep, that's a basic ingredient in pesto! It almost always has pine nuts.

And when it doesn't, walnuts are the usual substitute, so yeah, stay away from any pesto you don't make yourself. If I were making pesto for a friend with nut allergies I might try making it with sunflower seeds, but more likely I'd just make a basil and garlic puree.

[chaotic life]

The problem is that Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome are diagnoses of exclusion not inclusion. And just as critically important is that both are commonly SYMPTOMS of multiple underlying pathologies.

I had a doctor train me to look at Fibro as a warning system. In her years of experience, she typically saw Fibro 5-10 years before a more concrete diagnosis can be made. She felt that the human body was highly sensitive to imbalances and could tell things were amiss (thus Fibro or CFS) long before the medical community could objectively find it.

And the hardest part is that there is NO black and white definitive tests for autoimmune diseases. The medical community WANTS things in black and white with an objective blood test and there is no autoimmune that will always have a definitive test. You can rule things IN but you cannot rule them OUT.

When I treat Fibro and CFS, just like all autoimmune patients, I always , always screen for SLE (Lupus) first, all other autoimmune second, and anything else third. I never diagnosis and treat JUST mental diagnoses until I have ruled out all non-mental health possibilities. And that alone gets complicated because these very conditions have a higher rate of also causing anxiety and depression. But when those are medically related, they often do not require meds but coping skills and other non-pharmacological treatment options OR commonly I can give a med that will target other significant symptoms and also treat the depression/anxiety symptoms.

For ME it’s pretty rare to go straight to a MH diagnosis alone. It takes a lot of blood work (there are a TON of medical conditions that depression and anxiety are a symptom of the condition) and generally it’s so obvious that when I broach the possibility the person immediately crumbles and tells me they have strongly suspected it’s been that for awhile.

Last time I had that happen, I still checked her for inflammation, thyroid, anemia, the work up but she came to me for extreme fatigue, poor attention span, and weight gain. Flattest affect I have seen in a long time but when I got to the depression screening she informed me she felt it was entirely possible and by the time I was confident that barring any unanticipated lab results it was, she burst out crying on me. But she had had it for two years before seeking help. And it wasn’t until she gained weight and could not lose it that she finally showed up for help, which is completely standard stories in these populations. They suffer silently, self diagnosing, seeking snake oil and “natural” cures until a specific symptom becomes intolerable and refractory to Home cures and then they show up only for that symptom and discredit and won’t mention without guided prompting the years of other symptoms they have adapted to.

For me, I treat it in a very similar pattern of how I treat headaches and anxiety related to high blood pressure and rapid heartbeat. If you are still having symptoms that are prominent and noticeable then you have not had the problem a very long time. If you feel what you believe is fine and normal then you have been walking around with it a LONG time.

[FilleMondaine]

16 hours ago, chaotic life said:

Ok, I have a TREMENDOUS amount to say on this subject....it is actually smack dab in the overlap of my personal experiences and my professional foci.

On this topic, I see someone has already postulated C-PTSD and Body Keeps the Score is an excellent book. But for fundie women, it’s more than PTSD. The quiverful continuous pregnancy puts tremendous strain and stress on their bodies. The homeschooling and shouldering the lion’s share of parenting causes continuous stress and strain as well as utter emotional exhaustion. Their world view generally does not allow them to see allopathic medical support, much less mental health services, until symptoms are tremendously advanced and all home and google attempts have failed. Because they are expected to just touch it out, or even if not then when funds are tight just the mere personal guilt of seeing healthcare providers for anything but pregnancy related concerns will chase them away.

I love this post so much! (Hiya! it was me who talked about that book! Other books mentioned, as well by other intrepid FJ-ers!)

Like you, I have both personal and professional interest in this subject, and it's a kick (well, sometimes a sad thing) to read about other people's disclosures of food problems, pain problems, and depression/anxiety. (hugs hugs hugs!)

Do you use the ACE study in your work? (It measures the health problems of children who accumulate stress. More found at the CDC.gov website, and this nifty paper) I often use it because it lowers anxiety for many of my peeps, and gives a good instruction list of 'what not to do'. Basically, my people (often coming from trauma themselves), can feel validated that their aches and pains and depression are symptoms, not character flaws. They can also lower anxiety by reminding themselves that while they cannot be perfect parents, they can be confident that their kids will be relatively ok as long as ACEs are minimized.

Anyhow...this whole thread drift is so fascinating. I love it so much, and it's an honor to read about the other FJ-ers experiences and research.

Whew! Long posts...deep stuff.

 

[chaotic life]

I use ACE scores in the sense that when I am doing my evaluation I often score as part of my evaluation because it absolutely increases your chance of health conditions and not merely your mental health as we used to think.

Oh and I also approach depression and anxiety that I suspect to be trauma based differently than that which is not. Trauma based therapy I stress therapy and not merely medical management and I frequently educate in how trauma impacts the mind and body so that those patients feel less guilty and like they are to blame for their conditions (non-trauma based health issues are far less likely to blame themselves).

[louisa05]

So my mother-in-law finally saw an orthopedist for the constant pain in her shoulders and arms that was her "first symptom of fibro" and the ongoing and worst one. She has tendinitis in both shoulders and bursitis in one as well. They are treating with medication, she got a cortisone shot for the bursitis and she will be doing physical therapy. He suspected overuse from years of operating the espresso machine in her daughter's now defunct coffeehouse. 

We had hoped that this would make her rethink her idiot daughter's diagnosis of fibromyalgia (because yoga teachers are also diagnosticians, don't you know?), but it doesn't appear she is going to.